Report: Romo talks haven’t started yet

Posted by Mike Florio on February 17, 2013, 1:35 PM EST

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From time to time during the 2012 season, the Cowboys were interested in extending quarterback Tony Romo’s contract, even though it doesn’t expire until March 2014. Romo’s camp resisted, realizing that owner Jerry Jones merely was hoping to buy low.

Now that Romo is preparing to carry a $16.8 million salary-cap charge into the last year of his contract, Jones isn’t hoping simply to buy low but to buy a lower cap number.

It’s not a surprise. The Cowboys have made clear their desire to keep Romo, and Romo has no reason to do (another) below-market deal as he closes in on what likely will be the last big payday of his career. As Ross Tucker explained last week on PFT Live, Romo instantly would become the league’s highest paid player if he were a free agent right now.

So why not wait it out?

The other dynamic at play here is the fact that Romo is represented by CAA, which represents several starting quarterbacks who will be getting paid soon. Last year, CAA client Drew Brees nudged the bar higher than ever for quarterbacks with a five-year, $100 million deal, $61 million of which he’ll earn in the first three years. With the Falcons interested in extending CAA client Matt Ryan and with the Lions more desperate than they’ll admit to shrink CAA client Matthew Stafford’s cap number down from $20.8 million, the smart move for Romo could be to wait and see what those two guys get before doing his own deal.

As long as Romo is willing to bear the risk of a serious injury in 2013, there’s no reason to do anything other than cash $11.5 million worth of checks this year and push his way to market, or at least to the exclusive franchise tag.

Unless, of course, the Cowboys give him many million more reasons to do otherwise.

And if/when he signs a new contract, hopefully he’ll be able to afford a better hat. Or at least to get one that comes with a free bowl of soup.

As a die hard Cowboys fan, please SIGN Romo long-term! Other so called Cowboys “fans” seem to have forgotten the days after Aikman. They forgot the Chad Hutchinsons, Quincy Carters, Drew Hensons, Ryan Leafs, Vinny Testaverdes, Clint Stoerners, Anthony Wrights and Brad Johnsons all in the 5 years before Romo showed up. It not easy finding a QB.

Plus, I believe Romo can still get the job done. Let’s see how he does with a solid line that’s not getting killed every other play.

notoriousjebus says:Feb 17, 2013 2:10 PM

Romo has one career playoff win, and has failed to close the deal in consecutive win and you’re in games. I am not entirely sure how that equates to him being in line for a $20 million + a year contract.

Call me crazy, but I’d love to see Romo play out his contract in Dallas and then move on elsewhere. Let him play for a team that isn’t a complete circus and we can settle once and for all the question of how good he really is.

Romo’s a very good quarterback. He’s not good enough to win it all if asked to carry the team yet good enough to not have 5 win season and a possible great pick. As a Giants fan, please let this guy start for the Cowboys until he’s 50 years old.

Easy choice there, especially considering extending him could alleviate some of the massive salary cap debt going into this year. I’d like to see what Romo can with an improved offensive line so he doesn’t have to attempt a miracle evasion of the pass rush on every play. Now it’s just a matter of Jerry Jones actually realizing that and focusing on protecting him and our RBs.

cowboys are in salary cap limbo, but Romo is the best quarterback since Aikman…Jerry is all about marketing the cowboys brand, but is a terrible owner/GM and this is reason Dallas fans are frustrated with him…He doesn’t have the eye to win championships; ever since Jimmy Johnson left, Dallas has struggled ever since.

speedlimit41 says:Feb 17, 2013 3:18 PM

Sign the guy,get the running game going and sure up the defense and they have a shot.

All you ravens fans have your head up your asses. Yea you won the Super Bowl, congratulations. But if your gonna sit here and say that flacco could have done it with little or no run game is ludicrous.

Ravenator, you must have a complex about your QB because every time there is a Romo article you mention Flacco. It’s probably because you know Flacco isn’t better than him. I would love to see Flacco play behind the Cowboys Oline. You think he would put up almost 5,000 yard and throw 28 TD’s, passer rating of 91? I think not. He wouldn’t make it out alive.

romosrevenge says:Feb 17, 2013 3:40 PM

How many years did it take Favre to get his SB?
P.Manning? Hell, how about Elway? Marino?
(oh, sorry). If Trent Dilfer and Doug Williams are good enough to win a Lombardi, then Romo is OVER qualified. Career stats are the full measure of a talent. Romo is top tier in career stats. But he needs an O-line so he’s not pressured into mistakes and he he needs a better playcalling system so the ball is not being snapped with 1 second left on the clock. The O-line will take 2 seasons but a new playcaller can happen NOW.

romoscollarbone says:Feb 17, 2013 3:44 PM

He’s been continually asked to do too much for the past 3 yrs now. The guy runs for his life on most downs. When Murray came back it helped calm down the O-line and Romo was electric, bringing the team back from the brink 3 weeks in a row.

He’s a solid QB, not upper echelon, but solid. And as stated above, much better than the guys he replaced in between himself and Aikman. I’d extend him, if I was Jerry, otherwise all of next season will be even more of a circus than normal. The mothership will have spots every 45mins about Romo’s lame duck status and blah blah blah blah blah. One week Jaworski will say he stinks and in the same breath say he’s worth 20mil a year.

Realistically there is no alternative to him at the moment. None of this year’s QBs project to come onto the scene like RG,Luck, Wilson, or even Foles. I think you need to do a 4 yr extension at around 17 per to be fair to all parties involved. And really zero in on the QB prospects next year.

Romo is a good QB you won’t find another that’s comparable for less than the premium rate…QB’s that can start in this league are hard to find due to the DIFFICULTY of the position in todays game… If you have a decent QB keep him.. but then again Dallas hasn’t won anything with him… so as the old saying goes…What have you done for me lately?…maybe it’s time for a reboot ..but that’s irrelevant if you have the same garbage coaching staff and GM

As a loyal Cowboys fan I hope Romo stays here in Dallas! He’s a great qb with no help from his o-line and lack of a consistent running game! Romo is elite and he will win a Super Bowl! Yeah he has not won the big game yet but I have faith that he will. It takes a team to win, not just one guy!

I’m a diehard Cowboys fan and a Romo supporter, but Jerry needs to tread lightly here with an extension. I believe you shouldn’t give a QB a payday who threw away your season in the last game of the previous year (see: Delhomme, Jake); but at the same time, anyone who knows how football is played should be able to tell that Romo does things that VERY few other QBs can do- you don’t let that walk.

I’m guessing they extend him around 4-5 years that can easily void to 2-3 and that $5million in cap space they get back will be used to absorb the blow if/when they do release him.

They should trade Romo while they can get 2 first rounders for him. Take a team like the Dolphins, or Vikings, and rape them in a trade. Romo’s best years are behind him, regardless of what you think of his overall QB play. He is not going to get better, hes not going to get faster, hes just going to get older. Trade him now, and start a legitimate rebuilding process. Do not half $ss it like the Redskins did year after year, blow it up start over.

Why they kept Garret is beyond me. He must be serving the Vinny Cerrato under Dan Snyder position of sniveling yes man to Jerry Jones.

Jerry is going to give Romo whatever he wants, end of story. And, Rome will continue to break Cowboy fans hearts. He’ll be good enough to keep them in the mix. Occassionaly he’ll get them into the playoffs. And, when you need him the most to play lights out he’ll lay a egg.

jerryyouradisgrace says:Feb 17, 2013 5:16 PM

We all know Romo is a top tier QB. As it has been said if he didn’t have to run for his life on almost every pass play, had a solid OL and a running game he would be lights out. Just look at his stats. I almost wish he would play out his contract and go to a contending team, but Dallas would live in the cellar without him.

And please stop with the Flacco comparisons…If Tony was on that team with that coaching…well I think he would do fairly good to.

When we talk bout Romo…its baptismal by fire on every play. You deserve better…but I’m all for fleecing Jerry out of some big cash

1phd says:Feb 17, 2013 5:25 PM

Let’s see, Colin Kaepernick has more playoff wins in his ten game career than Tony Romo and took his team to the Superbowl. He makes $750k next season. Therefore it only stands to reason that Tony Romo is worth $20m a year in the world of the completely insane NFL salary structure.

MTLighthouse69 says:Feb 17, 2013 5:38 PM

Caddyshack, the best golf movie of all time. Ted Knight and Rodney Dangerfield were great in that movie.

As for Romo, he isn’t worth two first round picks. No team in their right mind would give up two first round picks for him, and in addition to that have to sign Romo long term. That is too much “value” to give up for what Romo offers.

Even if that were doable, no team is going to make that trade unless they have a deal in place to sign Romo long term. You don’t give up two first round picks for a short term rental.

Romo maybe better than what is currently out there for QBs. However, if he isn’t good enough to lead a team to a SB win, then why would any team want to give up Elmer Fudd’s mansion and a yacht to bring him in?

The Cowboys had 7 rushing touchdowns last year (not counting 1 from Romo). They had 4 rushing touchdowns the year before that (not counting 1 from Romo again). They have not had a 1000 yard rusher since Julius Jones did it in 2006.

They had 16 defensive turnovers last year, practically the worst in the league.

And, of course, the Cowboys offensive line is completely awful (at least, everything to the right of the left tackle is).

Fix those things and the Cowboys have a shot at a Super Bowl.

jimbo75025 says:Feb 17, 2013 6:31 PM

romosrevenge says:
Feb 17, 2013 3:40 PM
How many years did it take Favre to get his SB?
P.Manning? Hell, how about Elway? Marino?

——-

Dude, I’m not a Romo hater, but come up with better examples. Favre won in his 4th or 5th year and Elway and Marino BOTH made the Super Bowl very early in their careers. Romo has won one playoff game in 6-7 years, big difference.

Romo isn’t bad because he doesn’t win Superbowls. He’s bad because he doesn’t win playoff games. One win in his entire career. To put it in perspective, Mark Sanchez and Tim Tebow have way more playoff success than Romo, who’s been in the league much longer.

truecowboyfan says:Feb 17, 2013 7:33 PM

Screw u guys!! U have no clue··· I tell u··· As many cowboy fans who watch EVERY GAME will tell you… Romo will win a Superbowl… it is not his fault !!!!!

I’ve watched every playoff game Romo has played in. He only played poorly in one of them.

Against the Seahawks, he fumbled the go-ahead field goal snap. You can call that whatever you want, but that has nothing to do with his quarterback play. Tony Romo the quarterback put his team in position to win, but Tony Romo the holder screwed up.

The next year, the Cowboys played the Giants in the playoffs. Tony Romo was really good, and the defense was really bad. They could not stop Eli Manning/Plaxico Burress/Amani freaking Toomer. At the end of the game, Romo had a few shots at the end zone, and on third down he got picked off. He didn’t have an epic collapse, or throw some terrible ridiculous pass, he just didn’t get it done.

The next playoff game he was in, they crushed the Philadelphia eagles.

The next week against the Vikings was the only really bad playoff game I’ve seen out of Romo, and that was mostly the offensive line getting dominated. Ray Edwards and Jared Allen were eating Doug Free and Marc Colombo (I think?) for lunch. Tony Romo never got an opportunity to set his feet and look down field. Oh, and Favre and Sidney Rice were absolutely torching the Cowboys defense. They were never really in that game.

Being a Giants fan, you would know a thing or two about choking – your “defending” SB champs who couldn’t even make it back to the playoffs to defend that title is akin to a serious choke job. Even with the Giants having two SB wins in the past 5 seasons, the Cowboys STILL have more rings than the Giants. The fact that the Giants can’t even play well enough to make it back to the playoffs SHOULD be the bigger story, but no – as usual, the press (and the haters) can’t get enough of their Cowboys fix. Pretty pathetic, but true.

Once the team gives Romo the O-line play, Defensive play, or effective running game the last 10 SB winning teams have given their QB’s, he too will have a ring.

This is a TEAM sport, Einstein. EXACTLY why the Giants didn’t make it back to the promised land in 2012. It wasn’t because of Eli.

As a Vikings fan I would LOVE to have this guy. He would fit our offense perfect. Loves his TE, we got Rudolph. Loves his little slot guys, we got Harvin…maybe. Add a deep threat or any other competent WR to the team and could easily have a top 5 offense.

But it would never happen. Cowboys need to lock this guy up. Very underrated QB, but I guess he deserves it with the choking at the end of season.

mackcarrington says:Feb 18, 2013 12:23 AM

Flacco just won the Super Bowl, and is a free agent now. But If Romo were a free agent now he would “instantly become the league’s highest paid player.”? Mr Florio, I don’t understand that at all!!!!

ccjcsr says:Feb 18, 2013 8:14 AM

Resign just for the cap hit, but need an escape clause somewhere in it.

I’m a die hard Cowboy fan and I like Romo . I’m not sure if Romo like Romo. I trust a regular game but when it’s all or nothing I think it’s in his head. If we do excel it’s gotta be with a much stronger running game in the big games. Emmitt Smith type to carry the load , can’t trust Romo, hell Romo don’t trust Romo